Israeli kibbutz home of new Centrus

The Kibbutz Gazit, located in Galilee, northern Israel, is the home of a new 60 bail Centrus composite rotary platform. The parlour is the first of three Centrus platforms to be built in Israel over coming months.

The Gazit kibbutz community, formed in 1947, has a population of around 640 people who are involved in a number of businesses including almond and olive groves, sheep, beef, field crops and dairying.

International Sales Manager, Grant Wisnewski, said the dairy unit milks 350 high yielding Holstein cows which produce an average of 14,000 litres per cow per year. The herd is housed indoors, fed a TMR diet and milked all year round.

“They were customers of AfiMilk and wanted a premium fully automated milking parlour. The kibbutz committee invest for the long term so they liked the logic and technology behind Centrus, particularly the engineering and design excellence.

“The new parlour has ECRs, a complete AfiMilk herd management system, AfiLab (which provides fat and protein, and a new device which diverts high fat and protein milk into a separate milk line and vat. A premium is paid in Israel for high protein milk which is used in cheese production.

“The installation and commissioning of the new parlour was undertaken by a team from New Zealand during August 2016 and I understand they are very happy with its performance.”